RICHMOND — Local activists critical of President Donald Trump are urging the United States Congress to investigate President Donald J. Trump’s business holdings, which they say are a violation of the Constitution, and are grounds for his impeachment.

At issue is the “Emoluments Clause,” a previously little-known constitutional provision that says that U.S. presidents may not accept gifts or make a profit from any foreign state. The clause has never been tested in court. But activists say the president’s many business holdings continue to benefit him directly, even as he has handed over the day-to-day operations of his businesses to his children.

On Tuesday, the Richmond City Council will consider a resolution calling on the House of Representatives’ Committee of the Judiciary to investigate whether the business holdings warrant impeachment, the first city in the country to take such a step, they say.

Backers of the resolution point to Trump’s recent invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Mar-a-Lago, his opulent country club in Palm Beach, Florida, are just one example of how the new president’s business interests often collide with his executive duties. Soon after Trump became president, membership fees to Mar-a-Lago doubled to $200,000 a year.

“He’s asking world leaders to stay at his hotels, giving them discounts, so he is benefiting from it,” said Ellen Faden, a Richmond teacher and member of Our Revolution, a group started by supporters of Bernie Sanders. “If someone does that, he will likely favor them (because they have brought in business.) It’s almost like bribery.”

President Trump personally paid for Prime Minister Abe’s stay at the resort, but the incident has been seized upon by activists who oppose Trump as well as some ethics experts.

“Hosting a foreign leader at the president’s business resort creates impossible sets of conflicts,” Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, told the Orlando Sentinel. “If the president hadn’t offered to pay, the U.S. government would be paying Donald Trump’s business for the purpose of hosting the Japanese leader.”

In January, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog organization, filed a lawsuit against President Trump alleging that he is in violation of the little-known constitutional provision because “Trump-owned buildings take in rent, room rentals and other payments from foreign governments.”

Karina Ioffee covers the city of Richmond and West Contra Costa County. She has been a reporter for 15 years and has won numerous awards for her work, including from the Overseas Press Club. She speaks Spanish and Russian and is a former competitive gymnast. When not working, she likes to do yoga, cycle and dance.

Crews from several fire departments are battling a major grass fire late Saturday afternoon that has claimed at least 500 acres in a rural area in Solano County between Vacaville and Winters, and is prompting mandatory evacuations, firefighters said.